CJ Cheiljedang net more than doubles in 2018 on bio-related biz

16:55 February 14, 2019

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- CJ Cheiljedang Corp., South Korea's leading food manufacturer, said Thursday its net profit more than doubled last year from a year earlier, driven by proceeds from the sale of its health care unit.

Net income came to 925 billion won (US$822 million) last year, compared with a profit of 412 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

In April, CJ Cheiljedang sold its wholly owned CJ Healthcare Corp. to Kolmar Korea Co., an original development manufacturing cosmetics firm, for 1.31 trillion won.

CJ Cheiljedang said its operating profit gained 7.2 percent on-year to 833 billion won last year and that sales were up 13.3 percent to 18.67 trillion won over the period.

The company said its revenue from bio-related business also helped jack up its profit.

It generated 4.89 trillion won in revenue from its biopharmaceutical business last year, up 14.2 percent from a year earlier, and its food-related business posted 5.27 trillion won last year.

In recent years, CJ Cheiljedang has been focusing on manufacturing processed foods and food additives, both of which are faring well on the back of robust consumer demand for instant meals.